The Contents:
Welcome to my 1960’s resource folder. This is just the beginning of a collection of resources that can be used while teaching about the 1960’s. My resource folder is a collection of primary and secondary sources that includes: videos, newspaper articles, photographs, books, lesson plans, websites, interactive games, maps, documents, music, and letters. This resource folder is broken up into six different pages which are: home page, the civil rights movement, John F. Kennedy, music, science, the Vietnam War. These six pages are located in a navigational tool located on the right hand side. If for any reason you get lost and wish to go back to the home page simply click home page. Each page is set up a little differently depending on the materials that I added to it. The civil rights movement and the Vietnam War are set up very similarly. They both begin with either a website or videos that hold a lot of great information about that period in the 1960’s. Followed by the information is a very small list of books that could be used in the classroom. These books vary from all age groups and perspectives. Following the books is a few lesson plans that I found that would be great to use. Each lesson plan was chosen either because they were fantastic or they could be easily differentiated to fit the needs of the students. The science page is set up very similarly to the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War pages. The science page starts off by listing some inventions that were made in the 1960’s that are a huge part of the way we live today. By clicking on any of the links underneath each invention you will be conned to website that list a lot more inventions from the 1960’s. Under inventions is space. Space exploration was a part of the 1960’s because that is when we first landed on the moon. This part of the page gives a lot of great information but it also is linked to the John F. Kennedy page because that page talks a lot about space exploration as well. After space are two lesson plans that are on automobiles which was also big in 1960s and space exploration. Music was a huge influence during the 1960’s so I made sure I included it into my resource folder. The music page starts off with a few of the hits from the 1960’s and the link that is attached to part will take you to see all the hits in lots of different categories. After the music list there are three music videos I added to this page because they were some of the biggest hits. After the music videos is a website that I thought was really great because it talks about all the musical influences of the 1960’s. Following that is a list of lesson plans from the rock and roll hall of fame. This website had lots of great lesson plans involving music it was really hard to only choose four. Lastly is the John F. Kennedy page which is set up differently from the other pages. This page includes a lot of great primary sources for students to use. It starts off with a biography of John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline B. Kennedy. After the biographies are lesson plans that are connected to the biography which are great because they allow the students to really get to know the president and first lady. After this is John F. Kennedy and the space program. Here you will see lots of documents and information about how much John F. Kennedy was involved in this program. There are also some great lesson plans that use the documents so students can create their own perspective.
The NCSS Strands
With all the different materials I collected for this resource folder I was able to address seven of the ten strands from the National Council of Social Studies (NCSS). The first strand is culture. Culture is presented in my resource folder under the civil rights movement page. The best example of how culture is presented on this page is the first thing: Before the boycott. This is an interactive game that allows the students to see how African Americans were treated in the 1960’s and see how that culture fought for freedom. The civil rights movement page also is connected with NCSS second strand which is time continuity and change. Students are able to go though the civil rights movement page and be able to answer questions like: what happened in the past? How am I connected to those in the past? How has the world changed and how might it change in the future? Students are also able to see this time period through different perspectives. The next strand is individual development and identity which can be found under the science page. This page shows individual development and identity because it gives some examples of inventions of the 1960s. These inventions changed the way we live, and the students are able to see how people meet their basic needs in a variety of contexts. Also one of the lesson plans on this page explains to the students how they trained to go up in space which shows them how some people learn. The next strand is individuals, groups and institutions. This strand can be found on the page dealing with John F. Kennedy. On the John F. Kennedy page you will find a various amount of documents that really show who JFK was and his role and influences on society. One really great example of this is a letter that was written to JFK about his involvement with the space program by a 13 year old girl and JFK response to her. The John F. Kennedy page also shows aspects of the next strand which is power, authority, and governance. In John F. Kennedy’s biography it talks about his presidency and how he received that power, also different conflicts he had to overcome and how he overcame them. The next strand that is incorporated into my resource folder is science, technology and society. This strand can be found on the science page of my resource folder. This page goes though as I mentioned before some inventions that were created that are a big part of our society today. After the inventions this page talks a little about the space exploration which was a huge set for the USA and what we are still learning about today. The last strand I addressed in my resource folder was civic ideals and practices. This strand is presented in my Vietnam War page. This page has resources on it explaining about the participants and how everyone was evolved and the difference it made on society.
Teaching Ideas:
My 1960’s resource folder includes lots if different lesson plans that can be used or differentiated to use into any classroom. In addition to those lesson plans I do have two great Ideas. The first teaching idea I have is to use the letter that is located on the John F. Kennedy page. This letter is written by a thirteen year old girl whom the students can relate to. I would have the students read this letter that was written to President John F. Kennedy in 1962 about his involvement with the space program. After the students have read and reflected on the letter I will have them create their own letter to president Obama about a current issues going on today. The students can either question Obama like the letter to JFK is or it can be showing their appreciation to him for something that he is involved in.
My second teaching idea would be created from the civil rights movement page. After the civil rights movement unit, I would read either Freedom on the Menu or Child of the Civil Rights Movement as a class. After reading and discussing one or both of these books with the class I will assign the students to write a short story from their point of view telling how it was growing up through the civil rights movement. They can use any and all the materials and information they learned throughout the whole unit.
I think both of these teaching ideas would be great in the classroom because it allows the students to use other sources other than the text book to create their own perspectives on situations about the past and present. These lessons also integrate language arts in to the social studies curriculum.